1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method of stabilizing amorphous semiconductors, thus-stabilized amorphous semiconductors and devices using such semiconductors. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of stabilizing an amorphous semiconductor against the deleterious effect of prolonged exposure to light on its electrical characteristics, a semiconductor stabilized by said method, and amorphous semiconductor devices using the thus-stabilized semiconductor.
2. Background Art
Tetrahedral amorphous semiconductors, such as amorphous silicon, which are obtainable by the plasma CVD technique or the like are highly amenable to large-area architecture and cost reduction so that recently much interest has been focused on their application to solar cells, thin-film transistors, large-area sensors and so on. However, when such semiconductors are applied to photoelectric energy conversion, the stability of the semiconductors to light is a matter demanding sophisticated attention. The photodegradation of amorphous silicon was discovered by Drs. Staebler and Wronsky as early as in 1977 and particularly the aging of its electrical characteristics due to light, especially intense light, has been a major bottleneck in the application of this material to solar cells, electrophotographic process photoreceptor drums and other devices.